Adam Silver thinks Durant joining Golden State is a concern, and I don't agree with his assumption

Even at 75%...that was finishing 22nd in the league in ticket sales. Whether that's bad or good...I'm not arguing.

Just think the narrative is silly and unfounded.

There are a handful of places in all pro sports where attendance is less affected by the team's recent/relative success than other places. Wrigley Field comes to mind...it's a tourist destination and a place to hang out, regardless of how the Cubs perform. Places where teams have been since the late 19th century or early 20th century, where the fabric of the city they play in grew up around them. But that doesn't make Cub fans "better fans" necessarily. It's a product of circumstances.

 

I always thought GS would do what Houston did for Harden and renegotiate Curry's contract. I guess the $11 million a season man he stays. He has a ton of fans and like makes the Warriors and the league more money than just about any other player in the league. Oh well I guess.

 

Look at Atlanta they can't sell seats even when the team is atop the Eastern Conference haha.

 

It's great for revenue, it's bad for league parity. It's one thing to trade and build these teams, the Warriors deserve credit for putting together their core of Curry, Green, and Thompson. But when you have top 5 players joining an already great team...it's less authentic.

 

News to everyone, most of revenue is in TV and media, not seats.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Atlanta fans have a tendency to cheer on opposing superstars with the "MVP" chant. It happened before with Derrick Rose, Kobe etc

 

I don't think so the owners will be making a lot of money when GS comes to town so those other 29 owners will be just fine with this move.

 

Thank you sir. I have a lot of ties to the bay area from friends and family, and anecdotally I've heard much the same. My girlfriend's mom used to work for Oracle, there were times she couldn't give Warrior tickets away. She actually used to say "I wish they would just give us Sharks tickets instead". Yes, she wanted hockey tickets over NBA ones. I don't care how good the sharks are, you watch NBA. Good research, will rep.

 

Yeah Hawks fans are pretty awful. I don't think you can get much worse for a fanbase whose franchise is somewhat respectable.

 

I don't even know if I believe that. Look, if the league lacks parity it has an impact on all teams. Small market teams are less attractive to watch when they have no chance of winning it. Also, the idea that the revenue Durant generates as a Warrior is the same as the revenue he generates as a Thunder seems flawed. The spotlight is larger when you are the only guy, or one of two guys on a team than if you are part of a big 4/5/6/129834 team. Durant will sell warrior uniforms, and he will definitely have a positive impact on that team, but he is no longer a lightening rod. His stock will drop a little and rightfully so. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but it's a factor of diminishing returns. If the NBA felt the model of fewer teams with more super teams was more profitable, they would go to it. They would limit expansion, but market saturation causes them to need to expand. Parity helps them generate more revenue in more markets.

Look, the warriors aren't villains for netting Durant. I might attack Durant for taking a smaller role on a team just to win, but hey, that's also not a big deal. The real issue here is that the players created this problem. Make no mistake, cap smoothening would have made it really hard for the Warriors to net Durant. Durant gets to have his cake and eat it to. That's what the players association ultimately wanted.